Occasionally an album comes out of nowhere and spears the heart of a music lover. Once in a very occasional while on first listen you just know you will love and cherish an album for the rest of your days. "Vreme ispred nas" by PRKOS DRUMSKI ***** (BRLOG RECORDS ) is such an album for me.

Prkos Drumski is a fellowship of musicians from Novi Sad in the north of Serbia. They are a perfect example of why I love this art more than anything and why so much of my budget goes on shiny discs from unknown corners of Europe. I played the album three times in a row on first listen and was utterly blown away by an uncluttered, pure music of absolute simplicity.

Prkos Drumski's music is the sound of an aching melancholy suspended on fragile threads of delicate splendour and Vreme ispred nas is an album on which they search their very hearts and souls for meaning while attempting to capture the elusive butterfly of beauty. Gently plucked acoustic guitars are complemented by restrained piano, flute and percussion and little else. Lonely vocals soar off into the ether to be joined there by warm, friendly harmonies that urge the lead on to ever-elevated heights of expression.

Essentially, all the songs come from a similar, down-tempo, melancholic place but different vocalists take lead duties and emphasise the individuality of each piece. There's a pastoral feel to the music, as if Mother Nature and the band wrote and arranged all the songs outdoors on a fine summer's evening as the light faded. I would love to hear this music in such a setting. It would be perfect.

Author: Eddie Cooney / for United Kingdom music magazine R2 (Rock'n'Reel)
September/October 2009 Issue (Vol2 No17)
(www.rock-n-reel.co.uk)